


Operation Deep Blue

by Rigel99



Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Boats and Ships, M/M, Sea-longing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-10 04:32:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15941852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rigel99/pseuds/Rigel99
Summary: Fate has intervened in the lives of Captain James Bond and a Master in Innovation, known only as Q to bring them together on a voyage of discovery that will lead to a series of self-awakenings for both men and a new world that had, until now, concealed itself as nothing more than the myth of drunken seafarers and pirates.





	1. Chapter 1

“I am in need of a navigator, someone as familiar with the map of the skies as I with temper of the sea, and you, Sir, come highly recommended.”

“Are you sure you can afford me, Mr Bond?”

“Name your price?”

Q raised an eyebrow. “That kind of journey is it?”

Bond smiled and gave a deferential tip of his head. “For now,” he replied.

Q stood from his seat. “How long?”

“At least 6 months at sea.”

He circled his desk to stand toe-to-toe with the Captain.

“Dangerous?”

“Almost certainly.”

Q extended his hand. “Danger keeps men like us young, does it not?”

Bond accepted the gesture with a firm and confident grip.

“If it doesn’t kill us first, I wholeheartedly agree.”

Q turned his back, already giving his trust to the man. He was an excellent judge of character after all. He glanced over his shoulder while he unrolled the parchment on his desk. “Shall we get started?”

* * *

Bond was leaning against the open rail on deck, watching his crew move about their tasks and duties with efficient ease. They had not long departed port and would soon be hitting open sea.

“You know, it’ll take a few days but those sea legs will grow,” he said jovially, slapping his recently-procured navigator on the back in tandem with an accompanying evacuation of his stomach.

Q heaved his body back upright and pulled a handkerchief from his trouser pockets. “If you’re going to be this insufferable for the next 180 or so days, I may have to request you drop me off at the next port,” he grumbled, wiping his mouth.

Bond laughed. Q couldn’t help but smile in response. The Captain looked so enviably comfortable in his surroundings, Q hoped he would be able to adapt and it would feel more homely soon otherwise it was going to a long trip.

“Come along, Navigator, let’s get you settled below deck and see if we can’t help settle that stomach while we’re at it. Need you in top shape!” Bond pushed himself off the rail and Q duly followed. He’d better at least have decent quarters… “You’ll be bunking with me,” Bond said, turning towards him to slide down the ladder.

Q stopped dead in his tracks above the hole. “Excuse me?!!”

* * *

They were three weeks into the voyage when Bond began noticing the changes. Oh their navigator was diligent day in day out, preparing the information they needed to chart them to their destination with a focussed intensity that would put a vengeful whale to its shame. But his appetite was mouse-like and granted while he wasn’t doing any physical work, Bond knew enough about the biology of the human body to know the brain needed fuel to function too. Then sometimes he’d return to their cabin and Q would be staring out of the porthole into the middle distance, a slight frown on his boyish features as though he was trying to hear something or recall some lost forgotten memory that remained stubbornly out of reach.

This night though, took everyone by surprise.

Bond was abruptly woken by a banging on his cabin door. “Cap’n! Cap’n! Come quick! There’s summat amiss with our young Q!” Bond was up and out the door at speed but faltered at the sight that awaited him. Q stood balanced on the railing, his naked body bathed in moonlight, wind cutting through his hair, as the ship cut at a gentle but solid speed through the ocean.

Bond held his hand up to the crew scattered around the deck, some at a lost what to do, fearful if they made a move towards him he might jump.

Q looked over his shoulder at the approaching Captain. The look on his face gave Bond pause. He looked at such peace that he hadn’t since first boarding the ship. “She’s calling me home, James! She’s calling me!”

“Q! NO!” And just as he tipped forward, Bond lunged forward and grabbed his arm, hauling him back. The force of the swing and its momentum landed Q hard, his head knocking on the deck and Bond… his large bodyweight barrelled into the already weakened wooden rail and he plunged headlong into the ebbing waters below.

* * *

“MAN OVERBOARD!”

Bond heard the cry from one of his crewmen loud and clear a split second before hitting the water. He sank beneath the surface, watching the hull move above him, away from him.

 _So,_ he thought to himself, _this is the end…_

He knew his men would try to save him. They’d never leave their Captain as he would never leave one of them. But also knew time was of the essence in cold waters, and if the currents or a deep sea predator didn’t take him, hypothermia would. They’d man the rescue boat, row back to an approximation of his last position and search. He wished he could communicate them not to waste their time. It was a futile endeavour.

 _Good God I’m tired…_ He knew the sea would have her way with him one day. He just hadn’t expected that day to come so soon. But he thought of his crew, his ship, his navigator and he realised he wouldn’t have done anything different. Except perhaps…

It felt like an eternity with these thoughts swirling around his head. His lungs were just beginning to burn when he released his final gasp, but then…

_Air?_

He felt his lungs fill again and strong arms anchor to his sides dragging him up. He broke surface, at the same time breaking the kiss that had saved his life. He shook the water out of his eyes but… _this can’t be real…_

“Q?” he gasped in disbelief.

* * *

His saviour tipped his head in confusion, watching Bond’s mouth, studying his face with a childlike curiosity as though seeing a human being for the first time. It was at this point the Captain shook the seawater from his eyes and took in the translucent skin, the bright blue-green eyes, the colours swirling around his irises, the gills in his neck.

“By Poseidon’s beard,” he whispered in awe, “you— you’re real!!” His shock was cut short by the creature suddenly dragging him under and swimming at speed towards the retreating ship. Bond had just enough time to catch a breath, looking down the length of his body to see through the blur of the water the shimmering tail moving back and forth at speed. Before he knew it, he was released and pushed towards the surface. Right next to his ship.

“WAIT! COME BACK!” he screamed at the top of his lungs. But the sea obviously had decided she had given up enough secrets for one day.

* * *

Bond sat on the bunk in his cabin, watching the still form of his navigator stretched out on the bunk opposite. As soon as his men had hauled him back on deck, he had demanded to see the man, expecting to find him gone. But no. There he was, real as day and the sea below. Bond shook his head, still unable to reconcile in his mind what he had seen. The creature had looked so very like Q but so obviously _wasn’t_. It wasn’t entirely outside the realm of possibility that likenesses between unrelated beings existed. He continued to dry his hair, setting the thought aside for the moment. He refocussed on the incident in the water. He hadn’t been convinced that Merpeople existed, most skeptical in fact, but the money bestowed upon him by his mysterious benefactor had been enough to convince him a 6 month voyage in his beloved ship would be worth the pursuit, whether or not it yielded fruit. And here, it had. But he hadn’t found the creature, the creature had found _him_. He dropped the cloth and closed his eyes, raising his fingers to his lips. He had always loved the sea. Since he could walk, he could swim. If he’d had gills, he would have lived there himself. The realisation that he had actually been kissed by the sea, blindsided him, felt as though it was something he had always subconsciously wanted but understood it wasn’t possible so never could have.

The groan that came from the bunk opposite dragged him back to the surface. “What happened?” Q ground out. He sat up, only to lie back down immediately when the cabin began to spin. Bond stood and walked over to him. “You very nearly went for a swim you probably wouldn’t have come back from.”

“Awwww…” he moaned. “The last thing I remember is dreaming about being underwater and feeling so… calm. Which is ridiculous as I don’t even know how to swim!”

That stopped Bond in his tracks. “You come on a 6 month expedition at sea and you don’t know how to _swim?!”_

Q looked abashed. “Hate water. Needed the money for my work…”


	2. Chapter 2

_“What were you thinking?”_

The young merman hung his head. _“I do not know, my King. Father… Something… inexplicable took hold of my mind. I felt drawn to the ship. As I drew closer, I could see through the eyes of another. The night sky spread out flat before me, tools and shapes, a blond-haired human loved by others, like you in the manner he held command…”_

Poseidon could not fault the curiosity of his son. The world of men was encroaching on the world of the sea. He, at least, had been gifted with the foresight needed to do what needed to be done to protect the future of his people.

_“I had taught you to be more careful.”_

_“You did. But… this was… out of my control. I am sorry,”_ Eumelus could not bring himself to look at his Father. _“It was not my intent.”_

 _“You must be more vigilant in future.”_ Eumelus nodded in deference and glided out of the Imperial Quarters, glad it had not been a more brutal taking to task.

Cleito, his spouse and muse, materialised from the shadows. _“He has returned to us. The time. It nears,”_ she thought.

_“It does.”_

* * *

“Have I spontaneously grown fins or something?”

“Sorry…” Bond dropped his gaze back to the book.

Q put down the compass and protractor and swivelled on the stool to face him. “Did something other than you taking a tumble into the sea happen while you were swimming with the fishes, Captain? Because you’ve been acting somewhat odd ever since.”

Bond schooled his expression before looking back at him. “I hit the water quite hard you know, saving your honour I might add.”

“More than my honour,” Q mumbled. “Not sure how many more times and in how many different ways I can say thank you…”

“Your presence, alive and kicking, will do for now. And you’re fairly easy on the eye so that’s a bonus,” Bond deadpanned, while turning a page.

Q blushed hard and spluttered. “I—I must admit, I thought it would be more challenging, out at sea for an extended period, surrounded by seamen.”

Bond baulked a laugh.

“Don’t laugh! Some of your crew look at me like I’m some sort of main course! But I’m grateful none have tried anything more than a lascivious stare.”

Bond coughed in a manner that sounded more than simply a clearing of the throat. “What?” Q said.

“That might have more to do with the fact that you are bunking with me and they think you’re already claimed…”

“WHAT?!”

Bond dropped the book and gave him a hard stare. “What indeed? Is it that repulsive an idea?”

Q opted for the diplomatic route and refrained from an answer. He was fairly certain that any answer would open him up to scrutiny he didn’t really need this far from landfall.

The silence continued for a while longer before a thought occurred to Bond. “Something you said after my rescue made me curious.”

“Mmmm?” Q said semi-distracted but focussed on the next grid of the chart before him.

“You hate water but needed the money for your work? It sounded like you meant something other than celestial cartography.”

Q didn’t drop a beat. “Need to know, Captain, and you don’t need to know.”

And if Q had known a little more about the history of Captain Bond, he’d have known that such a turn of phrase was akin to a red rag to a bull.

He felt the shift in demeanour, saw from the corner of his eye Bond place the book on his bunk and move into a sitting position, hands braced on the edge as if poised to leap.

“I could make you tell me,” he said softly, the warning gust of breeze before the tsunami.

Q looked over at him, eyes wide. “You wouldn’t dare,” he gasped.

Bond grinned and launched himself at the navigator. Q fell backwards off the stool and flailed stumbling towards the cabin door but Bond beat him to it, blocking his path. He suddenly seemed very much larger and more threatening in the confines of their shared space.

“Please don’t hurt me,” his voice pleading. Bond immediately looked abashed. “Hurt you? Of course not!” His face broke into a grin again. “There are numerous ways much more effectively employed in information extraction…” he said, advancing towards him.


	3. Chapter 3

“Tell me.” Bond demanded.

Bond had him pinned by the wrists to the floor and in a matter of seconds had discovered his ribs were incredibly ticklish.

“Never!” Q said defiantly.

“Then brace yourself, Q. You’re going to die laughing…”

Q had his eyes squeezed shut and was trying to think of anything that might shift his focus from the hand’s assault of his bare torso. It was a good 20 seconds of relentless touching and tickling when Q finally gulped through his laughter, “Alright, alright!” His eyes shot open but the response was not what he expected. Bond’s expression switched from playful seriousness to shock and surprise. He released Q and stumbled back. Q sat up and frowned, trying to catch stolen breath.

“What’s the matter? You started this!”

“I must be going mad…” Bond muttered, unable to look at him.

“Well on that I think we can agree!” Q groused, standing up and straightening his clothing. “And as for what the money is needed for. I agreed to this trip on the promise of funding for a marine project. I can say no more than that so please don’t ask me again, Captain.”

Bond stood from the floor while Q resumed his seat, giving him a pointed _bugger off I’ve got work to do_ look. Bond took the hint. “I’d better check topside,” he muttered, his expression still wary. “You do that,” came the mumbled response.

He exited the cabin and took a moment to collect himself while leaning against the wall outside.

The flash of jade and sapphire that had shimmered around Q’s irises was very reminiscent of a certain sea creature he had recently encountered. _Definitely going mad,_ he internally muttered, pushing himself away to climb the ladder.

“Anything to report, Mr Tanner?” he boomed as he emerged from below, focussing his mind on his ship and purpose once more.

Tanner looked over his shoulder from his position by the helm. “All’s well Captain,” Tanner replied with a casual salute. “Assuming our navigator’s calculations hold true, we are due to arrive at the coordinates before sunset.” Tanner continued to look out towards the horizon. “I don’t suppose you’d care to share what it is we’re looking for, Sir?”

“I’m told we’ll know it when we see it, Mr Tanner. That’s all I’m at liberty to divulge right now,” Bond replied coolly. _And because you’d likely mutiny and put me in the brig for losing my mind were I to tell you what I’ve already seen and what we are looking for is very real…_

* * *

Bond cleared his throat and knocked. _Bloody hell, since when does a Captain knock on his own cabin door?_ He thought.

“Q? I thought you’d like to know we’re here.”

Q opened the door. “We are?” he said excitedly, all thought of their previous altercation forgotten. Bond smiled at the enthusiasm, shifting to the side to allow him to push past. He shimmied up the steps and stood in the middle of the deck to do a 360 degree turn.

“But… there’s nothing here?” he said to no one in particular. The rest of the crew looked as perplexed Q felt. “There’s supposed to be an island here!” he said in frustration to Bond as he approached him. “So now what do we do?”

“Correction. There _was_ an island here. Now, Q, we wait.”

Q crossed his arms, uncrossing them just as quickly to wave about him in annoyance. “For what exactly?” Bond kept silent and Q followed his gaze to the horizon, where the sun was just about to touch the rolling sea.

“CAPT’N! THERE’S SOMETHIN’ APPROACHIN’!” the lookout called from the Crow’s Nest above them.

It wasn’t long before the school of dolphins reached the ship. They positioned themselves equal width apart and began circling the vessel. The crew leaned over to watch, confused at this odd behaviour. Tanner looked at Bond. “Some things a man has to see with his own eyes to believe, Captain?”

“What on Earth is happening?” Q said in wonder, never having seen such a coordinated display by any animal, land or sea bound.

Then, to the port side of the ship, the water started to bubble and several small vortexes manifested around the anomaly. Bond watched in silence while in deference to their Captain, his crew did their best to maintain their composure, despite the feelings of disquiet within each man. He had never led them down a path of no return before. They had to trust, hundreds of miles from anywhere, that this instance was no different.

Two bronze spheres appeared bobbing on the surface. They didn’t appear to have any seams or joints, as though they were natural objects, untouched and not constructed by the hands of man. And then the top of one of the spheres dropped and slide backwards. An almost… human head appeared, though her skin appeared to shift with the movement of the water’s surface. Her hair was long enough to retain her modesty, obviously naked, at least from the waist up. She fluidly raised her arm, pointed at Bond and then gestured towards the other sphere.

“I take it that’s my invitation,” Bond said. Q and Tanner tore their gaze away from the surreal sight beneath them to Bond, who was still watching her.

“Captain…” began Tanner.

“You must be joking!” Q spluttered. “You can't seriously be considering…?”

Bond raised his hand. “This is what I was sent to find. Admittedly I thought it was a fool’s errand but it paid well enough. And now…” he turned to Q. “It would be rude to decline such an invitation would it not?”

“Well I’m coming!” Tanner and Q chorused simultaneously.

“No,” Bond was emphatic. “Should anything go wrong, I need you to take command, Mr Tanner and you to get my crew home, Navigator. That’s an order. Understood?” Bond was throwing a rope ladder over the side before any further objections were made.

“Look after my ship, you lot of scallywags!” he shouted to his crewmen. “The Semper Occultus can’t sail herself!!” And he vanished over the side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can anyone spot the little Easter Egg I dropped in this chapter? :)


	4. Chapter 4

Seafaring men live their lives under a serious misconception: The sea is their mistress; They have conquered her; They rule her waves. Nothing could be further from their truth. For she is the abyss; deep, mysterious, unknowable, and when you look into her and she looks back, you are marked, claimed and you are hers.

Bond was standing at the helm of his ship. He was alone, the sea his guide. Above him, as below, the sky shimmered, reflecting the surface on which he sailed. Images from his past floated by, places he had been, people he had known.

 _Is this death?_ he thought to himself.

 _Not death, Captain,_ came the unbidden reply, _this is the origin of life._

Bond turned. His Navigator, Q, stood behind him.

 _Where are we?_ Bond thought.

 _Exactly where we need to be, James,_ Q replied.

 _That’s the first time you’ve called me by my christian name,_ Bond thought, _you have me at an advantage._

 _You want to know my name?_ He glided closer. Bond could feel the blood quicken in his veins. He closed his eyes to simply feel the hands of the ocean flow up his arm. Warm water caressed down his back in a silver sheet of breathing silk.

 _Like so many things in all worlds._ The warm breath accompanying the words touched his lips.

 _Q…_ The kiss was a delicate undulation like a rolling surface.

 _E…_ But beneath the deceptive calmness, as any decent sailor knows, the power and vastness was all consuming.

 _D…_ Bond opened his eyes. Q was a prism, breaking light into a myriad of colours, intertwining Bond’s mind with his own…

Bond is a boy again, leaning over the edge of a boat, trying to see the bottom of the ocean, asking it to reveal itself to him. The vessel lurches beneath him, sending him into the water, cracking his head against the hull, sinking, sinking… He awakes on a beach, just in time to see the shimmer of a large tail dive below the surface.

And then they were in his cabin, Q straddled above him in his bunk, taking any and all Bond would give.

All he could do was worship.

For the first time in his life, Captain James Bond was truly lost at sea.

* * *

It was night now, and only a few hours since Bond had departed into the unknown, shepherded down to unchartered depths by the bronze sphere. There was no moon, only the stars peaking through the inky blackness. The ship and her crew were quiet, waiting, hoping. So it was a surprise when a cry penetrated their silence, followed by a splash of water and the sudden realisation they were being boarded. Scuffles broke out across the deck but the element of surprise is a strong ally and soon enough, one of the intruders had their second-in-command at his mercy.

Before he knew what was happening, Q was being dragged unceremoniously from his cabin and hauled onto the upper deck. His disorientation wasn’t helped by the darkness, but he could make out the burly shapes of a half dozen unknown men, weapons trained the crew of the Semper Occultus now rounded up. Tanner was on his knees, a gun trained at his head. The man who had him at his mercy was obviously in charge, his demeanour intimidating to say the least, though his face was shrouded in darkness, the commanding stance and confidence emanated from him, light from a star.

Q was shoved in front of him, landing on his knees. He looked up just as the glow from a match held by one his own crew hovered in front of his face to light his cigar. Weather-worn features could not hide a rugged handsomeness and keen eye that had seen more than their share of life’s loves and labours.

Though still on his knees, Q met his gaze and shrugged the hand from his shoulder. “Who the devil are you and what business do you have boarding this ship?” Q asked, somewhat indignant. There was a beat of a pause before the man behind him began roaring with laughter, his men following suit. Tanner managed to keep his face impassive and unreadable.

He leaned forward from the waist, bringing himself almost eye level with the Navigator. “Some might say I may as well be the devil himself…” he gruffed, a thick foreign accent unfamiliar to Q breathing a lungful of smoke into his face. Q screwed his eyes shut and coughed, another ripple of laughter following at his discomfiture.

He stood tall once again, looking down his nose at Q while he spoke. “But you, my young whippet, you can call me Captain Trevelyan. Alec Trevelyan.”


End file.
